One Shot- Misunderstandings and Correcting Them
by pyroleigh
Summary: Just as the title suggests, a one shot about a night out, and what it takes to fix it. Just a short one shot I wrote to help with a bout of writer's block. I'm not claiming it's my best work, just something to read. T for language


"Oh great." The two words were simple, but said with such disdain they would have affected Zelda anyway. However, it wasn't the words that were said this time, but the person who said them that made her freeze on the threshold of the elevator. She looked up from her phone and tried to fight the urge to run away from the man leaning against the handrail the back of the small cube.

There were two options. One: she could back away and wait for another elevator, making her late to dinner with her friends. Two: she could step all the way in, ride down seven floors in uncomfortable silence, and hopefully never have to deal with him again. Zelda steeled her nerves and marched inside, turning her back to him and quickly pressing the button to shut the doors.

The silence between them was suffocating, and she almost felt woozy from inhaling his cologne in such close quarters. A prickly sensation began at the base of her skull, one she always got when she felt eyes on her. That made Zelda tense. How dare he look at her! She whirled around and opened her mouth to scold him, only to see his eyes glued to his own phone. He looked up and their eyes met. Dark blue, the color of some deep forgotten ocean pierced her soul and she took a shaky breath. She had forgotten how hypnotic they were when he gave her his undivided attention.

"Are we still not speaking?" he asked after a moment and she snapped out of her stupor.

"Of course we're not speaking!" The words were harsh, a lesser man would have flinched. All it earned her was a raised brow and she cursed under her breath.

"You still believe your version of things then?" She scoffed at his question.

"You know I do."

"Fine."

"Fine? That's it?!" Her hands went to her hips and he just shrugged.

"It's been five years Zelda, if you haven't changed your mind yet then nothing will. You'll grow old and die thinking I did something I'd never do."

"I saw you! How can you possibly-" the lights flickered and she gasped as the elevator came to a stop. "No no no," she shook her head and felt tears prick at her eyes. Not now! The elevator couldn't stop with her inside and stuck with him!

"Must be a power outage," he mused softly and she scoffed. "And you don't know what you saw." She stalked up to him for that, eyes flashing in annoyance.

"I. Saw. You. You had her pinned to the fucking wall!"

"She grabbed me!" The sudden shout from him made her flinch. "I was trying to get away from her and-"

"Oh yes," she cut him off sarcastically. "You were doing your best I'm sure." His eyes flashed dangerously as he scowled down at her, a level of anger she had never had the displeasure of having aimed directly at her making her feel a spike of fear. After a long moment he lost the heat of the glare and shook his head.

"I can't believe you sometimes. You stayed by my side through so much, yet the second you see something-"

"What I saw," she snarled as she glared up at him, "was my boyfriend since our senior year of high school kissing another woman! Pushed against the wall and everything!"

"You're ridiculous." He spat the words at her before he moved to the other side of their small cage. "If I had a way to prove to you what happened, I'd gladly do so."

"What would it prove Ike? Hmm? That you cheated on me?" The question made him whirl around and she backed up against the handrail as he advanced on her.

"Do you remember everything we did? Do you remember how I kissed you when I had you against the wall? I didn't touch her like I did you, which you would know if you tried your hardest to remember!" Zelda flailed for a moment, trying to think of a good counterargument to that. He scoffed and turned away, giving Zelda a good chance to think over his claims.

XxX

The first time he had shoved her into a wall they weren't dating. She had reluctantly gone over to his house to work on a project, and the two of them were sitting on his bed as they worked. After two hours of not saying anything, Ike sighed and snatched the book from her fingers.

"Hey!" She blushed as she looked up at him, finding him closer than she had anticipated. True, she found the captain of the basketball team ridiculously attractive and had a massive crush on him, but she knew as the unofficial queen of the nerds that he'd never see her that way.

"You gotta talk to me Zelda, I'm going out of my mind here."

"We need to get the project done Ike," she reminded gently. The pout he gave her made her sigh. "Fine! What do you want to talk about?"

"You. I have you in so many of my classes but we never talk."

"That's because I'm not popular."

"Fuck that. Come on," he moved forward a little, "tell me about you."

"Wh-what do you want to know?" she asked warily.

"Well... favorite color? Favorite food? Favorite movie?"

"Purple, cheeseburgers, and The Empire Strikes Back." He grinned at that, making her heart speed up.

"Favorite candy?"

"Sweetarts, the crunchy ones not the chewy ones."

"Are you dating Link?" The question caught her off guard and she scoffed.

"What?"

"Link, is he your boyfriend?"

"No! Goddesses he's practically my brother!" she laughed at the end of her words, missing how he studied her face.

"Do you like anyone?" That made her stop laughing. She couldn't admit the truth, he'd laugh in her face!

"That's none of your business," she said firmly. "I'd like to get back to our project now Ike." She held out her hand for the book and he leapt from his bed with a grin.

"You do like someone. Tell me who."

"I'd like to get back to our project now Ike," she said in a serious tone as she rose to her feet.

"We'll get there, after you tell me who."

"No! No one knows and it's not like he would even be interested in me so-"

"Way to cut the dude off at the knees," he scoffed at her. "How could you possibly know? Have you told him and he rejected you?"

"No!" She marched up to him, intending to grab the book, only to find herself somehow pinned against his bedroom wall. "Ike!" His name left her lips a startled gasp.

"Ask me. Ask me who I can't keep my eyes off of in trig, who I hunt for greedily in the hallways, who I would give anything for a chance to have one date, just to show her that I'm not a douchebag jock."

"Who Ike?" Her voice was a soft whisper, heart prepared to break over whatever name left his lips.

"You." She looked deep into his hypnotic blue eyes at that, trying to find the joke. He just stared back at her, making Zelda really wonder.

"You... like me? Is this some sick prank Ike? Did you figure it all out and decided to have some fun at the nerd's expense?"

"No," he whispered, his right hand leaving her arm to curl into her long brown hair. She could feel the increased speed of her heartbeat as he leaned closer to her. His nose touched lightly against hers and he hesitated. "Can I kiss you?" She barely managed to nod as he pressed his lips against hers.

His left hand left her arm and cradled her face gently, his right tangling thoroughly in her locks. The kiss went from gentle to passionate in a heartbeat, Zelda only able to hope that she wasn't embarrassing herself in the process. He groaned into her mouth as he closed the distance between their bodies. She was sent spiraling into ecstasy, only to drag herself out of it when he pulled away.

"Be my girlfriend?" he asked breathlessly as he caught her eyes. All Zelda could manage was a nod before he kissed her again.

XxX

They were celebrating passing their third year of college, surrounded by their friends. Zelda was pressed into Ike's side, his arm around her as the night progressed. "I love you," he said loudly in her ear.

"I love you too," she responded without hesitation. They shared a not so gentle kiss which earned them a few wolf whistles from their friends. She blushed and he hugged her tighter against his chest.

"Be right back," he said as he squeezed her. Zelda smiled and sipped her drink, eyes on his retreating form as he made his way to the hall where the bathrooms were. Link nudged her shoulder and she gave him a smile.

"Where'd he run to?" Link asked loudly.

"Bathroom!" Link nodded and turned his attention to someone else and a moment later he was laughing his head off. Zelda rolled her eyes good naturedly and set down her empty drink. It was the perfect time to go to the bathroom and check her makeup. Ike didn't like being out too long and she didn't want to look crazy when he made his move to get her in his apartment.

Swaying slightly she moved towards the restroom, happily buzzed and feeling good about her life. She rounded the corner, smiling at nothing, and stopped dead in her tracks. There was her boyfriend for the past four years, with a woman shoved against the wall.

"Ike!" she screamed his name and he shoved himself off the wall.

"Zelda I-"

"What the fuck?!" Tears sprang to her eyes as her future fell apart in front of her.

"No babe, I swear I-"

"I can't believe you," she barely managed to whisper before the tears fell.

"Zelda please," he stepped closer to her and she shook her head. Her eyes locked on the wrinkled fabric of his shirt, no doubt done by the other woman's hands, and moved up to the red lipstick smeared on his lips. "I didn't do anything babe, I was trying to get her off of me! I-"

"You had her against the wall you lying bastard!" she screamed at him before turning on her heel and storming off.

XxX

Zelda stared at Ike across from her in the tiny space of the elevator, a sickening realization twisting her gut. He had always cradled her face with his left hand, his right had always gotten tangled in her hair, and he had always pressed himself against her as close as clothing could allow. That woman in the club that night... he had had one arm braced against the wall and the other had been on her hands fisted into his shirt.

Had he been trying to pry her off of him? Had it been nothing like she had assumed? She looked to Ike, saw him looking down at his feet, and suddenly she wanted to know. She had to know if she had made the worst mistake of her life.

"What happened?" The question left her lips in a soft whisper, but he flinched like she had screamed at him.

"I came out of the bathroom and she was standing there, waiting on her friends or something. I don't... she said something along the lines of leaving with her and I just tried to step around her. She stumbled, I tried to steady her, and the next thing I knew she gripped my shirt and started attacking my face. I was trying to pull her off when you saw me."

"Prove it." The words left her mouth before she could really think them through and he glared at her.

"I can't dammit."

"Yes you can," she insisted firmly and he raised an eyebrow.

"How? Why should I even bother?" She let herself take a deep breath, and then Zelda did something she would never have thought herself capable of doing. She gripped his pristine shirt and tugged him to her. Their lips crashed together as her back hit the wall of the elevator.

Immediately she felt his fingers tug at hers, and she opened her eyes to see him pull away. "What the hell?!" he snarled at her, eyes angry and hurt.

"You didn't kiss me like you always did, you responded how you did that ni-"

"Because I have a girlfriend! I know what you think of me but for fucks sake I am not going to cheat on anyone." He moved to the opposite side of the elevator and sank to the floor, not glancing in her direction at all.

"I didn't know, I'm sorry," she said after a moment and he scoffed.

"Of course you didn't. You actively avoided all contact with me for the past five years, how are you supposed to even know?" He looked at her then, his expression guarded in a way she hadn't seen since his mother had been hospitalized. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to know, I thought it would prove it," she admitted and he rolled his eyes. They grew silent for a moment and then he cleared his throat.

"Do you believe me now?" She could only nod in response as she felt the elevator come to life. He stood up and smoothed his shirt, not looking at her until the doors dinged open. When they moved to step out he caught her eye and gave her a half smile. "Too bad we waited five years."

XxX

That night Zelda sat with her friends in the restaurant, unsure how to even broach the topic of the elevator revelation to them. They had stuck by her side during the fallout with Ike, and she was grateful. Now knowing what she did... could she tell them? She owed it to Ike that they didn't believe him to be a cheater right?

"Hey Zel, you okay?" Peach asked worriedly.

"I uh, ran into Ike today," she said and immediately the table fell silent. She cleared her throat, drew up every ounce of courage in her body, and told them the truth. Once her story was over the table sat in stunned silence for a long moment.

"I knew he didn't have it in him," Bayonetta declared after awhile and Zelda stared at her. "What? I took your side but I knew what he was planning to do. He had bought a ring and asked me about getting reservations at the restaurant I was working at then. I've known Ike longer than any of you have and cheating? He'd never do it."

Zelda wad floored by the news. A ring? He had been planning on proposing? Fresh tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of how different her life could have been if she had listened to and trusted her boyfriend.

"I'm going home," she muttered to them before standing up and leaving the restaurant with a heavy heart.

XxX

Zelda felt awful as she sat alone on her couch that night. It was late, but she knew she'd never get to sleep with the way she felt. All she could do was think about how much better her life could have been if she had listened to Ike that night. If she had, she would have been married to the only man she had ever loved. Yes in five years she'd had a few good dates, but nothing ever worked out for her. No one understood her the way Ike did. No one was there like he had been. She had returned the favor readily while they were together. When his dad died, she was there. When his mom had been hospitalized, she had stayed by his side...

Zelda wiped the fresh tears from her cheeks and jumped at the knock on her door. She knew her friends knew better than to stop by, so she was tempted to ignore it. Tempted until a voice floated through it. "Zelda?" Ike's voice had her on her feet in a flash.

She unlocked the door and threw it open, only to stare at Ike in shock a moment later. His right cheek was red, the thin outlines of fingers easily identified. "Are you okay?" she asked with worry. "What happened?" Without thinking her hand touched his cheek, and her traitor of a heart sped up as he leaned into her touch.

"Bayonetta," he admitted and she gasped.

"Oh goddesses Ike I didn't mean for her to-"

"She didn't say it was because of you," he interrupted her quickly, "she was just annoyed at me for having the slight chance to fix things and how I handled it."

"Fix things?" A disbelieving laugh left her lips. "What's there to fix? I screwed up everything by not believing you that night and now you have a girlfriend-"

"Had," he corrected and she gave him a look. He pulled out his phone and tapped on it before showing the screen to her. The cheesy lines of it being her and not him jumped out at her, just like the time stamp of not too long after they left the elevator.

"She broke up with you over a text? What is she, a high schooler?" He chuckled as he pocketed the thin device.

"I'm not a creeper Zelda, she's twenty-five which is only a year younger than me." He looked down at her, a look in his eyes she was trying to decipher.

"Do you want to come in?" She stepped back and he moved inside, her shutting the door behind him. "Ike, I know an apology won't even come close to making up for the way I treated you, and it certainly won't make up for the way I've avoided you for five years but... I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am." She looked up at him, saw the way he stared at her, and her heart sped up at the sight. He had looked at her that way so long ago when he'd kissed her and asked her to be his girlfriend. He'd looked at her that way when she was there to help him get back on his feet after his father had died and his mother had been hospitalized. Him looking at her like that could only mean one thing.

Sure enough, he stepped into her personal space and her back hit the wall. "I hated myself for five years, hated what happened to us, but I couldn't bring myself to hate you... I loved you too much." His left hand cupped her cheek as he stepped closer, his right moving to her hair. "Could you love me again?"

"I don't think I ever stopped," she managed to whisper and he grinned before he pressed his lips to hers. He drew closer, their bodies pressed together, and suddenly everything felt right. Zelda felt whole, complete.

When Zelda felt the burning need for a proper breath in her lungs Ike pulled back, just enough to rest his forehead against hers. "Be my girlfriend?" he asked in a husky whisper. All Zelda could manage was a nod, not trusting her voice.

XxX

One year later found Zelda sitting across from Ike, the ring on her finger glinting happily in the low lighting. He was grinning at her as they perused the menus, and she found herself wishing she knew how he'd take her news. Ike seemed to notice something was off because he set the menu aside and gave her his undivided attention.

"What is it?" The smirk had fallen from his lips and worry creased his brow. She looked down at her glass of water and reached for it, wondering if he was suspicious of her asking for it instead of her usual glass of wine.

"I uh, have something to tell you, but I'm a little nervous about it."

"What?" His hand reached for hers and she smiled at the way her ring shined against his palm.

"You're going to be a daddy," she said it all in a rush, cursing her failing nerves. Immediately he grinned, his eyes wide in shock.

"Babe, are you sure?" he asked as his hand squeezed hers gently. She nodded, biting her lower lip nervously.

"Confirmed by the doctor this morning." He let out a happy noise and Zelda found herself being lifted to her feet and spun in his arms. He kissed her gently and smiled as he pulled away.

"You've made me the happiest man ever, please say you know that."

"Well I guess I was just worried with us only being married for a month that-"

"Babe, we lost five years," he cut her off gently as he pushed some stray hairs from her face, "I don't want to waste another minute. I couldn't be happier. I've wanted to spend my life with you the second you said you loved me... I've got everything I'll ever want or need right here." She smiled up at him, tears shining in her eyes. "So bring on a baby, bring on whatever, nothing is going to stop this now."

"I know," she whispered and he stole another kiss before releasing her. She sat back down and gave him a smirk.

"What's that for?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"You can't do your signature push me against a wall kiss anymore." He grinned, a low chuckle leaving his lips.

"I'll figure it out." He shot her a wink and Zelda relaxed as the waitress approached their table. They had been through so much, had even survived five years apart, how had she ever had her doubts?

XXX

This was honestly just a quick thing I wrote to help me get past a bout of writer's block. So I figured I'd go ahead and post it since it's Zike and complete you know? Anyway, lemme know what you think! Much love, Leigh


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